Argyle 4 Leyton Orient 0
A game of two halves.
By Finley Allen
Sometimes sporting cliches sum up a game, none quite like Argyle’s Tuesday night rout of Leyton Orient, with all four of The Greens’ goals coming before the break. The first three in 34 minutes with the forth seconds before the half-time whistle.
Argyle could have considered themselves lucky as they took the lead at 14 minutes when Zak Rudden, who looked more like a Raider’s player, slam-dunked the ball towards the line, only for it to be ‘brilliantly’ pushed away by Orient keeper, Dean Brill. League 2’s shoddy refereeing then showed its ‘hand’ once again, with Argyle finally getting the “upper hand “ on this occasion. Joel Grant continued his hot scoring form as he slammed the ball into the top corner, to put Argyle ahead.
The second came from the man in the spotlight, minutes later, as Zak Rudden flicked the ball in from a brilliant George Cooper cross, which looked like it could have been goal bound anyway. The third came from a shot from outside the box, from Callum McFadzean who continued his goalscoring habits against Orient after bagging one in a cup tie in August. Orient’s misery was compounded just before halftime as they conceded an own-goal after another quality George Cooper cross. With the game sealed at 45 minutes, Argyle took their foot off the gas in the second half, with changes of personnel allowing a much needed rest in a week of three games.
For me, this game was less about the goals scored, but more about the way the game was approached. Argyle played more directly and looked to play into the channels, as Orient struggled to cope. In previous weeks Argyle had played with much more ball on the surface, often with little reward as attacks would frequently break down because of lack of movement off and quality on the ball. With the back three in particular getting much criticism for their lack off competence on the ball this season, including from myself, this could have been a one off tactic from Lowe to exploit Orient’s weaknesses, or more likely an approach to better suit the current squad he has at his disposal. Something, no doubt, he’ll try and address in January.
All in all a very successful week for Argyle as they gained maximum points, giving the boys a much needed confidence boost before “The Big One” on Saturday. This will be surely the biggest test of their mettle to date and will give us a solid assessment of just how good this side is. On the subject of cliches, the next match will be one where every player will have to stand up and be counted.
Man of the match: George Cooper
Argyle performance: 7.5/10
A game of two halves.
By Finley Allen
Sometimes sporting cliches sum up a game, none quite like Argyle’s Tuesday night rout of Leyton Orient, with all four of The Greens’ goals coming before the break. The first three in 34 minutes with the forth seconds before the half-time whistle.
Argyle could have considered themselves lucky as they took the lead at 14 minutes when Zak Rudden, who looked more like a Raider’s player, slam-dunked the ball towards the line, only for it to be ‘brilliantly’ pushed away by Orient keeper, Dean Brill. League 2’s shoddy refereeing then showed its ‘hand’ once again, with Argyle finally getting the “upper hand “ on this occasion. Joel Grant continued his hot scoring form as he slammed the ball into the top corner, to put Argyle ahead.
The second came from the man in the spotlight, minutes later, as Zak Rudden flicked the ball in from a brilliant George Cooper cross, which looked like it could have been goal bound anyway. The third came from a shot from outside the box, from Callum McFadzean who continued his goalscoring habits against Orient after bagging one in a cup tie in August. Orient’s misery was compounded just before halftime as they conceded an own-goal after another quality George Cooper cross. With the game sealed at 45 minutes, Argyle took their foot off the gas in the second half, with changes of personnel allowing a much needed rest in a week of three games.
For me, this game was less about the goals scored, but more about the way the game was approached. Argyle played more directly and looked to play into the channels, as Orient struggled to cope. In previous weeks Argyle had played with much more ball on the surface, often with little reward as attacks would frequently break down because of lack of movement off and quality on the ball. With the back three in particular getting much criticism for their lack off competence on the ball this season, including from myself, this could have been a one off tactic from Lowe to exploit Orient’s weaknesses, or more likely an approach to better suit the current squad he has at his disposal. Something, no doubt, he’ll try and address in January.
All in all a very successful week for Argyle as they gained maximum points, giving the boys a much needed confidence boost before “The Big One” on Saturday. This will be surely the biggest test of their mettle to date and will give us a solid assessment of just how good this side is. On the subject of cliches, the next match will be one where every player will have to stand up and be counted.
Man of the match: George Cooper
Argyle performance: 7.5/10
